VOLUME 55 | ISSUE 4 | DECEMBER 2023
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Are mainstream world population projections too optimistic? One expert says yes.
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Population projections and the assumptions demographers make in order to formulate them take center stage in this issue. Dr. Jane O’Sullivan, a researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia, gave an informative interview on the shortfalls of the most commonly cited projections and advocated on behalf of funding strong family planning programs in order to achieve the fertility decline top demographers assume will happen soon.
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PROGRAM UPDATES
[[link removed]] The #Fight4HER is Back
We're reactivating the #Fight4HER ahead of 2024 elections.
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[[link removed]] Chaos on the Hill
House Republicans have been using the Appropriations process—the annual moving of bills to fund all government programs and agencies—to promote their extreme ideological agenda.
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[[link removed]] PopEd Releases New Poster Kits
This fall, PopEd published two new resources to grace classroom walls.
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[[link removed]] A Year of Global Partners
We featured nine of our Global Partners at virtual events throughout the year!
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[[link removed]] Global Partner Spotlight: Nasaruni
Population Connection supports Nasaruni Academy in Kenya, helping to provide educational scholarships for students and job training for local women.
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Friend,
Projections of slower U.S. population growth and an aging society provoke needless dire warnings. A recent New York Times article, “ America’s Semiconductor Boom Faces a Challenge: Not Enough Workers [[link removed]] ,” cited a looming shortfall of nearly 400,000 engineers and skilled technicians.
One side effect of recent worker shortages has been higher wages in certain skill areas. To my mind, this can be a good thing—though not everyone agrees. The Wall Street Journal recently quoted [[link removed]] a leading construction executive bemoaning higher wages for carpenters. Near as I can tell, it isn’t carpenters who are landing their helicopters on megayachts. We’re not going to fall off some economic cliff by paying people an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s work.
There is still the question of where the U.S. is going to find skilled workers needed in tomorrow’s world. The answer: right here at home. We have 11 million children [[link removed]] trapped in poverty, giving us the highest rate of child poverty [[link removed]] of any developed nation—more than twice that of Canada.
Child poverty costs our economy more than $1 trillion annually. According to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis [[link removed]] , that’s far more than the combined value of data processing, internet publishing, and the manufacturing of computers and electronics.
Children lifted out of poverty tend to gain the education that enables them to have decent economic lives. As adults, they themselves postpone childbearing and have far fewer children [[link removed]] .
A vicious cycle can be transformed into a virtuous cycle in our overcrowded world. We know what to do, so let’s stop gnashing our teeth. Instead, the U.S. can lead the way to a better, safer, less-crowded future for all Earth’s inhabitants.
A Legacy of Kindness
My good friend and our former Board Chair John Lazarus always thought about the needs of others. The sadness of his death at 77 [[link removed]] is leavened by memories of countless good deeds. John was truly generous with his time and resources from ZPG’s earliest days to the present, and did much to advance the cause of higher education and public libraries. His unfailingly good-natured devotion to family, friends, good causes, and his Australian Shepherds exemplified a life well lived.
[[link removed]] John Seager
PRESIDENT AND CEO
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